“Pearls Strung Together”

8 March 2018

At the Saluting Excellence Conference in November, we welcomed Wendy Shiels (pictured far right), Program Director & Coordinator of Volunteers, and Carol Walker (below near right), Operations Manager, to talk to us about their organisation, Beyond Words.

Beyond Words is a not-for-profit organisation that provides professional assistance to senior Australians to write their biography, at no cost to them.

Biographers are volunteers who come from a variety of walks of life. The main expense incurred by the program is to train the volunteers: this is covered thanks to one-off and ongoing donations from generous supporters.

Over the last few years, seven residents from Vasey RSL Care Bundoora have written their biographies with Beyond Words’ assistance and it has meant a great deal to them: lifestyle Coordinator, Linda D’Sylva says:

“One of our residents keeps her book in her walker. She often tells me how much joy it brings her.”

Wendy explained that there are a number of reasons that people want to get things down on paper: some want to unload memories, for example of their war experiences or document difficult childhoods; some want to put things in writing that they cannot easily tell to family members; others want to do it for their families, as a legacy for their children and grandchildren.

“What I have learnt is there is no such thing as an ‘ordinary life’,” said Wendy.

One lady wanted to document her escape from the Nazis, her trek through the Alps, and capture by the Russians. She didn’t want to have to respond to questions about this time, so she requested that her biography only be given to her relatives after her death. But this is unusual – most people can’t wait to share them.

The biographers often hear things that have never been shared before – family secrets and gems of all types! New biographers undergo a 6-day training program, 6 hours per day, covering one module each day in order to have the knowledge and skills to do a good job: there are 42 active biographers and in total 146 biographies have been written.

Writing their biography is the decision of the individual – it’s their story to be told and no-one knows it better than they do. So the biographer’s job is to use their skills to guide and help the individual tell them what it is they wish to record.

It takes 10-12 weeks to meet with the resident and talk about their life. The biographer then puts the content together, using photos, letters and other mementoes to illustrate it or check dates, and this takes around 6-8 weeks.

Once ready, there is an official presentation, again chosen by the individual: it might be a private afternoon tea with close family, or a large event with many friends – whatever they prefer.

“The process of creation itself makes a difference,” says Wendy. “This enables the resident to feel that their personal story has been told and they have been able to leave a legacy for their family.”

“They give you the pearls, you string them together, and you hand them back to them.”